Lot
332

WILSON, William. A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, Performed in the Years 1796, 1797, 1798, in the Ship Duff...Compiled from Journals of the Officers and the Missionaries... London: S. Gosnell for T. Chapman, 1799.

WILSON, William. A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, Performed in the Years 1796, 1797, 1798, in the Ship Duff...Compiled from Journals of the Officers and the Missionaries... London: S. Gosnell for T. Chapman, 1799.

FIRST EDITION of the London Missionary Society's voyage for the purpose of establishing a mission at Tahiti. Setting out from London in 1796, the Duff was the first missionary vessel to sail the Pacific Ocean. After 208 days, the ship reached Tahiti where a settlement of 25 people was established. Although they were befriended by King Pomare I the missionaries met with numerous difficulties on the island including civil war and were finally forced to flee to Australia. Apart from its missionary interest, this work is valuable for its descriptions of Tahiti, the Fiji Islands, and Tonga, along with occasional references to Australia. Cox II:307; Ferguson 301; Hill 1894; Sabin 49480.